From Social Worker to Entrepreneur: How AI Can Help Build and Sustain Your Consulting Business
Authors Dr. Marina Badillo-Diaz, LCSW and Jánon Rollins, M.S., LSWA
This month's blog is a collaboration between Dr. Marina Badillo-Diaz, LCSW, Founder and CEO of MABD Consulting and The AI Social Worker, and Jánon Rollins, M.S., LSWA, Founder and CEO of LeadIQue Consulting LLC. As social work entrepreneurs, educators, consultants, and organizational leaders, we have each explored how artificial intelligence (AI) can support the growth and sustainability of our businesses while remaining anchored in the ethical values of the social work profession. Although our businesses and approaches differ, we have both found that AI reduces administrative burden, enhances creativity, streamlines research, and creates more time for the work that matters most—building relationships, serving clients, and advancing our missions. In this blog, we share how AI has become part of our entrepreneurial journeys, discuss how these tools can support social workers interested in launching their own businesses, and explore important ethical considerations for integrating AI responsibly into entrepreneurial practice.
Jánon is an organizational strategist and the Founder & CEO of LeadIQue Consulting LLC, where she partners with organizations to strengthen leadership, build lasting capacity, and navigate change with intention. Her work is guided by a core belief — "Organizations don't transform because strategies change. They transform because people do" — and focuses on helping leaders and teams develop sustainable systems that recognize the wisdom already within them and translate potential into outcomes. Like many entrepreneurs, she quickly discovered that launching a consulting firm required far more than expertise in organizational strategy. It also meant becoming fluent in website development, scheduling systems, proposal writing, marketing, research, client communication, and business operations — skills rarely taught in graduate school but essential to sustaining the work.
Similarly, Marina founded MABD Consulting with the brand, The AI Social Worker, to provide consulting and training for social workers on the ethical integration of artificial intelligence into social work practice, education, supervision, and leadership. Balancing multiple university teaching appointments while managing a growing consulting business has required finding efficient ways to develop presentations, write proposals, create educational materials, conduct research, and manage business operations. AI has become one of the tools that support the work while allowing more time to focus on clients, students, and innovation.
Different Paths, One Common Discovery About AI Tools
As we reflected on our experiences, we realized that we arrived at AI from different directions but reached the same conclusion: AI is not replacing our expertise. Instead, it has expanded our capacity to use it. Rather than spending countless hours on repetitive administrative tasks, AI allows us to devote more energy to critical thinking, relationship building, creativity, and strategic decision-making.
For Jánon, that realization came after discovering Perplexity. Like many professionals, her first experience with AI was ChatGPT, but a colleague encouraged her to try Perplexity because of its research capabilities. As someone who genuinely enjoys learning and gathering information, Perplexity immediately resonated with her. "I'm an information person," she explained. "I love learning, and with Perplexity I don't have to search everywhere anymore. I can go to one platform and get the information I need."
The tool became even more valuable when Perplexity introduced its Computer feature. As an organizational consultant, Jánon often conducts environmental scans, organizational landscape analyses, and competitive assessments that traditionally require reviewing dozens of websites, nonprofit databases, annual reports, and public documents before synthesizing the information into a comprehensive report. During one consulting project, she uploaded the relevant materials into Perplexity Computer and provided detailed instructions for what she wanted analyzed. In a fraction of the time it would have taken manually, the platform generated nearly a twenty-page report comparing organizations, identifying trends, highlighting strengths and gaps, and even providing strategic recommendations.
Although the speed was remarkable, Jánon emphasizes that AI did not eliminate her responsibility as the consultant. Every recommendation, statistic, and comparison still required careful review. She cross-referenced the information using trusted sources such as GuideStar and organizational websites to ensure the findings were accurate before sharing them with her client. "You still have to edit it, critique it, and make sure the information is accurate," she explained. "It's not about skipping the work. It's about spending less time gathering information and more time thinking about it."
Her experience also highlighted a challenge many social workers face when adopting AI. While one consulting colleague immediately embraced the technology, another remained skeptical after spending several hours manually conducting research that AI completed in less than an hour. Their conversation reflected what we continue to see across the profession: AI often generates understandable hesitation, but once professionals experience how it can support, not replace, their expertise, many begin to see its value.
Marina's experience has been similar, although her workflow relies on several different AI platforms. ChatGPT has become a collaborative brainstorming partner for developing workshops, keynote presentations, educational activities, proposals, and business ideas. Claude has proven especially helpful for developing projects and beautifying slide decks. Perplexity has become her preferred research assistant when preparing presentations and trainings because it quickly identifies current information while providing direct links to original sources that can be independently reviewed and verified.
Beyond AI itself, both of us have found that entrepreneurship also depends on integrating complementary technologies that simplify business operations. Platforms such as Calendly have eliminated countless emails coordinating appointments by allowing clients to schedule consultations directly through our websites. Otter.ai has simplified meeting documentation by generating transcripts and action items. AI-assisted website builders have helped organize content, improve website design, and reduce the technical barriers that often discourage new entrepreneurs from building an online presence. Once these systems are connected, much of the administrative workflow becomes automated, allowing entrepreneurs to focus on serving clients rather than managing logistics.
The Shift from Social Worker to Entrepreneur
Perhaps the greatest lesson from our conversation had very little to do with technology. It had everything to do with identity. Many social workers have the expertise to become successful entrepreneurs but do not yet see themselves that way. Graduate education prepares us exceptionally well to become clinicians, educators, supervisors, advocates, administrators, and community leaders. However, very few social work programs teach us how to launch a consulting business, develop a website, market our expertise, create pricing structures, automate scheduling, or build sustainable business systems.
For Jánon, making the transition from traditional employment to entrepreneurship required a significant mindset shift. Like many professionals, she valued the stability of full-time employment and questioned whether she had the time and capacity to build something new. Over time, she realized that entrepreneurs are never fully "ready." Instead, they build systems that allow them to manage their time more effectively. AI has become one of those systems. Rather than replacing her work, it provides additional support that makes entrepreneurship feel more manageable while allowing her to continue doing meaningful work with organizations.
We believe many social workers are in a similar position. They possess years of valuable experience, deep clinical and organizational expertise, and a genuine desire to create a broader impact. What often prevents them from pursuing entrepreneurship is not a lack of knowledge. it is uncertainty about the business side of consulting. AI can help lower some of those barriers by assisting with brainstorming business ideas, conducting market research, drafting proposals, creating workshop descriptions, developing websites, organizing content, refining marketing materials, and streamlining administrative tasks. It cannot replace experience, relationships, or professional judgment, but it can reduce the amount of time spent on repetitive work and make entrepreneurship more accessible.
At the same time, social work entrepreneurs must approach AI thoughtfully and ethically. Our professional responsibilities do not change simply because we own a business. Confidentiality remains paramount. Identifiable client, employee, student, or organizational information should never be entered into public AI platforms without appropriate safeguards. AI-generated information should always be verified before it is shared with clients or incorporated into reports, presentations, or educational materials. Social workers must also remain attentive to bias within AI-generated content, recognize the limitations of these technologies, practice within their scope of competence, and maintain transparency when AI has significantly contributed to professional work. Ultimately, AI should support ethical decision-making—not replace it
Artificial intelligence will not build a successful consulting business. It cannot replace expertise, creativity, relationships, or ethical judgment. What it can do is remove some of the administrative barriers that often prevent social workers from fully sharing their knowledge with the world. Used intentionally, AI gives us something every entrepreneur values: more time to think, create, innovate, and serve others.
For us, that is the true promise of AI. It is not about replacing the social worker. It is about empowering more social workers to become leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs while remaining grounded in the values that brought us to this profession in the first place.
The content in this blog was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reviewed and edited by Dr. Marina Badillo-Diaz, LCSW, and Jánon Rollins, M.S., LSWA, to ensure accuracy, relevance, and integrity. Dr. Badillo-Diaz's and Jánon’s expertise and insightful oversight have been incorporated to ensure the content in this blog meets the standards of professional social work practice.